The Zion Williamson injury saga: A complete timeline of what happened, how it has impacted New Orleans Pelicans, and the latest on Zion's return

Zion Williamson’s injury and continuous absence in the 2021-22 NBA season has been one of the most talked-about stories of the new season since the emergence of the news.

Information about the power forward’s untimely injury was only made known a couple of weeks before the start of the new season, much to the shock of many.

In their opening season of media day activities, executive vice chairman of basketball operations, David Griffin, announced in August that Zion Williamson had fractured his right foot. Just before the start of the 2021 NBA summer league, and had undergone injury to remedy the situation.

As of when it was announced in September, it was believed that the young star would make it in time for the new season. He has, however, gone on to miss the first month of the new campaign. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have struggled to build any momentum of any sort in his absence.

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How Zion Williamson's absence has affected the New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans reacts during a time-out from the second half of the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on November 02, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Pelicans 112-100.

Zion Williamson’s battle with injuries has been largely documented since his rookie season, where he played only 24 games due to injury. However, he had an outstanding sophomore year. As the 2019 NBA no. 1 draft pick attained new heights, posting a remarkable 27 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists from 61 games.

In his absence, the Pelicans have struggled, performing even lower than their standards. They currently rank 14th in the Western Conference, posting a 3-15 record from their first 17 games of the season, without their Zion Williamson. They have underperformed in many areas of their play, falling flat from defense to offense.

After finishing 7th in the league for field goal percentage last season, the Pelicans now rank 27th without Williamson. Whose 61.1% was enough to break into the top 10 for players in the league last season.

They are ranked in the bottom five in the league for field goals made (37.1), three-pointers made (11.1), steals (7.1), blocks (4.2) and points (100.9).

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Latest on Zion Williamson’s return from Injury

Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans poses for photos during Media Day at Smoothie King Center on September 27, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Despite all the catastrophe that has followed Zion Williamson’s injury and surgery, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the player and team, as information released by the Pelicans earlier in the week seemed to indicate.

It was announced last week that the All-Star had undergone imaging on his injured foot and had been cleared for one-on-one workouts. It was later revealed in the media announcement that the player will undergo additional imaging to determine his availability for full-team workouts on November 24th.

It is expected that the superstar will be able to do that by next week. And possibly resume workout sessions to ramp up his rehabilitation and long-awaited return. With the hope of rescuing the Pelicans before their season fully goes off the rails.